heres the problem. Bought this 87 corvette with 4+3 manual trans. The guy i got it from said he had a new clutch put in. Seemed to have told the truth because clutch position is high and no grinding gears.

Car did fine when i first drove it, but slowly something is happening to it.

First time you start the car up and put it in 1st gear, it acts as though you are trying to pull out in 4th.

After you push on the gas some more and shift to second, the car goes back to being fine. 1st gear works like it should........

Until you shut the car off and go start it up later....

ADvice appreciated....

 

OD unit electrical problems? Maybe engaging it in first gear.

 

From your earlier post, the smoke is probably your new clutch burning up. This "problem" might be the reason they replaced the clutch, then sold the car. I'm no expert but I am thinking the gear box (4 speed box) needs work. The OD should not be ingaging in 1st but I guess it could be malfunctioning as well. My take is that something is locking or semi-locking up one of the transmissions. If things are this far out of line causing this much resistance, that worn out, you have problems in the gearbox. I don't think the OD would do this but, If you pull one transmission to rebuild it, might as well rebuild both, I would.....IMO How many miles showing on the odometer, how many do yhou think it has on it?

 

It has around 120,000 miles

Well today, the clutch went out. Monday i am planning on taking it to a transmission shop to replace the clutch, pressure plate ect....

What could cause the clutch to burn up in the first place?

The car just didn't have the power like it should have. It would barely spin the tires, sometimes not. When you first start it up, it would barely take off, then all of a sudden it would be fine. THen when you kick it down to passing gear burnt smell would come from the car and smoke from underneath.


What do I need to rebuild and what exactly do i need to tell the guy working on my car.

I don't know much about these types of transmissions.

 

Well I guess you will find out what it is now, good luck with what you find. It may just be the disk and / or pressure plate really the way it was actiing. But go with the best you can afford on both, you will not regret it, upgrade! NOW! AND at least change all the fluids in both transmissions, 4 spd and OD while you have them out. Fix any leaks and have your shop look for any signs of wear, whatever they can do. Go ahead and replace all seals & gaskets, I think there is a filter in the OD too, replace it. 120K, I would just have them totaly rebuilt, I did mine, $1,500 for both, BUT....

Kind of a funny story...10 years ago, when I bought my 86. It needed a clutch, quite like yours. I got a great deal on the car. So, I though, while it was disassembled, and 120K miles on it, I said, go through the whole "system" and make it like new. I found the best guy on my side of town and took my car to him. What I did not know (or was NOT told by my buddies) was this guy is also the biggest acholic on my side of town. Well he torn down the trans and immediatly got arrested. Then my car is torn completly apart and 90 days later, "Joe" fianally gets out of jail. YEAH! Now it is now coming back together. And I got to admit he did a great job! No problems since, 10 years later! It was a 3 to 4 month job. But my message is, go ahead and do it ALL now, so you don't have to remove the trans again, the labor $$ will get you eventually, just do it all now. Or at this point, you can go with a new 6 speed....$3,500 to $4K....plus install, your call, I really like the 4+3 combo, my opinion only. cheers! GO RANGERS!

 

Nope! It cannot go into O/D in first gear. Physically impossible.

 

i think my clutch was not releasing completely from the flywheel and catching all the time.

What could be the cause of this?

 

Why? My '85 sometimes will remain in OD after stopping and after I start to take off in 1st. Course then it will clunk outa OD much to my dismay and continue without til 2nd is engaged.

 

That is odd, it is not supposed to engage in 1st. That is why this set up is called a 4+3 (no OD in 1st, just the other "3"). Heve you modified or by passsed the OD relay? Cheers!

 

As long as the car is moving, even at very low speeds while you are downshifting from 4 to 3 to 2 and then to 1st gear, the overdrive will still be engaged. As soon as you come to a complete stop in 1st gear with the clutch depressed,, the overdrive will automatically disengage. It will not re-engage until you shift back into second, third or fourth gear again if the overdrive system is left in the on position. If it's staying in overdrive when you are stopped with the clutch in while in first gear, you have a problem. Most lilely a relay. There is no overdrive position for first gear so the clunking you are hearing is the transmission shifting itself (hard) out of 2nd gear overdrive that it was stuck in. Try changing your transmission fluid and filter in the overdrive unit, Very easy job to do. Also, are you being sure to depress the clutch when you are turning overdrive system on or off? That makes the transmission shift very smothly and you won't feel or hear anything.